Apple finally brought Apple Maps to web browsers back in June, allowing people without iPhones or Macs to access its navigation system for the very first time. That version of Apple Maps was a bit limited since it was still in beta, but now it’s received a useful Google Maps-inspired upgrade.
Apple has added the Look Around feature to Apple Maps on the web. For those that aren’t familiar with Apple Maps, it's basically Apple’s take on Google Street View — letting you view different locations from street level. Of course, it’s not available in every location, and the system isn’t quite as intuitive as what Street View has to offer.
While Google Maps lets you click specific areas, or drag the yellow Pin man onto the map to load up Street View, Apple’s system is different. So long as you’re looking at a city with Look Around support, you have to keep an eye out for a set of binoculars in the bottom left. Clicking that starts Look Around’s pop-up window that superimposes the street view onto the map.
It works much the same way as Google’s Street View, letting you spin around 360 degrees and click locations in the distance to travel there. Alternatively, you can move the large map around if you want a little more control over where you end up.
I managed to get Look Around up and running in Google Chrome on Windows, and it seems to be working pretty well. However, it did take me a hot minute to figure out how I was supposed to get started since Apple just expects you to know what to do. The only real downside is that Look Around is a lot more limited than Street View, which has almost the entire world covered in some shape or form.
Only select cities in the U.S., Canada, EU, U.K. and Australia are supported, and Apple has a full list on its website. But this won’t stop you from wandering those virtual streets in Look Around when you live elsewhere.
Whether Apple will expand Look Around in the future isn’t clear, but it has promised to improve the beta version of Apple Maps Web. Support for more features, platforms and languages will apparently happen, which hopefully means that Apple Maps will finally come to Android in some form in the near future. While loyal Android users may be appalled at the idea, it’s always better to have options beyond the two big Google-owned navigation apps.
